The Triforce of Ruin
by B the Blue
Summary: Set after the events of the original The Legend of Zelda and its sequel The Adventure of Link. The Triforce is whole once again, and Hyrule prepares to enter a new golden age, but a secret truth as ancient as the dawn of creation threatens to leave it all in ruin. Join Link along with two different Zeldas on their quest to save not only Hyrule but possibly creation itself.
1. Chapter I: Ushering in the New Age

_**The Legend of Zelda**_

 **The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter I: Ushering in the New Age**

The large hood on Link's nondescript green robes felt awkward. He had become accustomed to his hat to the point that his head felt naked without it and no substitute ever felt right, especially not this peripheral vision robbing hood. Still, even if the trade off didn't seem entirely fair, what the hood offered was admittedly worth it, although, come to think of it that by definition would make it fair, wouldn't it? Link shook his head within the hood. Arguing with himself over trivialities wouldn't change his situation any.

He could hide himself from the swollen Castle City crowd, but he would have to confront them before the day was over. That or suffer the wrath of the princesses. Well, one would be queen soon, not that that was likely to temper her displeasure any if he were to try to avoid his so called 'duty'. But dear goddesses! Did he hate public oration!

Link was jostled out of his depressing thoughts as the crowd continued to push past. With a sigh he started moving along with them out of self defense. He actively dreaded the thought of arriving at the castle proper, but he supposed getting trampled to death would be worse than having to give one little speech. Probably.

The number of people making their way toward the castle was a little shocking. Link had seen Castle City while it still housed the countless refugees who'd fled from Ganon's forces. In the years since Link had ended that particular problem, most had returned home, or at least made a new home elsewhere. Even still, not everyone had left. Castle City had been changed forever, now sporting an entirely new layer that wrapped around the outside of the city's defensive walls. Tents and makeshift shacks were slowly being replaced by more permanent buildings as what had once been the primary refugee camp evolved day by day into a real home for the people who had been unfortunate enough to lose everything during those dark days.

For the last several weeks though, Castle City's numbers had continued to swell to previously unreached heights as people flocked here not for safety but in celebration. Zelda's coronation alone would have drawn thousands, but today was also the day that they would return the newly whole Triforce to the Sacred Realm. Something that had not been done in centuries. Not since that ancient king had split the Triforce of Courage from its siblings and hid it.

Link would be expected to stand alongside the two Zeldas and give some words in honor of the occasion. He honestly didn't see why, after all he wasn't royalty and as far as Legendary Heroes go its not like he'd done much. Sure he'd restored the Triforce of Wisdom, defeated the Prince of Darkness, recovered the Triforce of Power, saved the Princess Zelda, recovered the long lost Triforce of Courage, and in doing so saved the legendary Princess Zelda I...but as long as you didn't list all those things in a row like a conceited fool, it wasn't all that impressive.

Link sighed again. Well, if it meant so much to the people of Hyrule to see their Legendary Hero and hear him talk a little, the least he could do was oblige them. Seeing as how many of these people had taken the effort to travel all this way it would be rude not to. As it was, Link was cutting it dangerously close to being rude and suffering a little royal wrath to boot. Traversing the endless pedestrian sea was taking far longer than he expected. By the sound of the crowd the parade was making its way toward the castle faster than he was. He'd planned on avoiding the parade element of the celebration by reaching the castle ahead of time, but he'd underestimated the strength of the crowd and wouldn't be able to beat the parade after all.

"I suppose," Link said to nobody in particular, which was probably just as well seeing as how he could barely even hear himself over the crowd's roaring buzz. "If you can't beat them, might as well join them."

Turning to his right Link began pushing his way not toward the castle ahead but to the road that cut through the city leading right to its gates. If he hurried he could still join up with the parade and catch a ride. Probably on the horse he was supposed to have been riding since the parade's start. Sweet golden gods he hated horses. At least riding them. He'd hoped to at least avoid that bit of torture if not the speech making. Not to be.

The problem with his new strategy became instantly apparent. Everyone was pushing to get closer to the parade. While the distance to cover was vastly less, Link could see the road from where he stood, the crowd's density became nearly impenetrable. Squeezing through the small gaps between individuals quickly turned to forcing himself between people where no gap existed. Aggressively as Link was navigating the sea of parade viewers, he just wasn't going to make it before the parade passed, if at all.

What little progress he was making came to a complete and sudden stop as a burly hand roughly planted itself on his chest. Looking up, very up, Link saw the owner of the hand. It belonged to the single largest man Link had ever seen. The man's face may have been buried beneath a shaggy black beard, but Link was pretty sure the man wasn't smiling. "Sorry friend," the man said in a decidedly unfriendly baritone that managed somehow to be perfectly audible over the cacophony. "You want a better view of the parade, should have come sooner."

"You should sit on your papa's shoulders so you can see too!" piped a small voice that brought Link's attention to the little girl atop the bearded man's shoulders. At least _she_ was smiling, even if her idea was fully absurd in the way only a child could be. Cute, yes. Helpful? Way south of yes.

"We're all trying to get a good view for our families," rumbled the bearded man, "not fair for someone to just shove themselves to the front, just cause they're late to the party. I've been here four hours just to give my little girl a chance to glimpse the Princesses Zelda and the Hero of Courage."

Hero of Courage huh? So that new title was gaining in popularity. Before his latest adventure they'd been calling him the Hero of Prophesy.

"You don't understand," Link began before ending with a sigh. No choice then. Desperate times, Link supposed as he pulled his hood off, brushing his messy brown hair away from his pointed hylian ears. Ears like his wouldn't erase all doubt from what he was about to confess, but they were rare enough these days that it wouldn't hurt to show them off. "I _am_ the Hero of Courage. I need to get to the parade _now_."

The bearded man's eyelids lowered in what Link assumed was exasperation, clearly that was not what he had been expecting Link to say. "Why aren't you in the parade right now if that's true?"

Link shrugged. "I don't like horses?" Again, not what the man probably expected.

The little girl's gap toothed smile widened ear to ear. "Ooooh! I like horses too! Look! Look! They're coming this way!"

"That's not quite what I said," Link mumbled as he looked to where the girl was now pointing so excitedly that he was a little worried she'd bounce right off her father's shoulders. More concerning was that she was right. The parade was fast approaching.

Pulling the leather glove off his left hand, Link raised it up in front of the bearded man's face. "Look! I _really am_ the Hero of Courage or Prophesy or whatever I'm called nowadays! I don't have time to explain or even a good excuse as to why I'm not in the parade right now, but I need to get there before the princesses pass by! If I'm late for the coronation: They. Will. Kill. Me."

The bearded man may not have fully heard Link's impassioned, if admittedly ridiculous plea. The way his eyes widened, however, told that he clearly saw the glowing golden outline of the Triforce on the back of Link's upraised hand. One of the three triangles would be pulsating stronger than the other two, but it was unlikely the man understood what that meant, or even noticed the detail. What he did understand is that Link was exactly who he claimed to be.

"Papa!" His daughter clearly understood as well. The child leaned clear over the top of her father's head bringing the two face to face, her blonde pig tails hanging lower than 'Papa's' beard. "Papa! Papa! Papa! He's the! Papa!"

"I know! I know!" The man struggled to get the frantically excited child back upright in order to clear his vision. "Goddess! You really are the Hero!"

Link lowered his hand before the microcosm of commotion he'd caused could draw any attention away from the parade. If everyone realized who he was while he stood in the middle of an already excited crowd...Link was pretty sure causing a riot would _not_ help his situation out any. "I need to get over there!" Link pointed urgently over to the road. "Before the Awoken Princess and Queen-to-be pass us by!"

The shocked expression on the large man's face lasted only a moment longer, before morphing into stern determination. "Hang onto my jacket, Hero! I'll get you there, on my family's honor I will!"

Without thinking Link grabbed the unexpected life line fortune had sent him and held fast to the back of the bearded man's jacket as he shifted his massive frame to face the parade road. He reached up to pat his daughter's head, told her to hold tight, gazed out over the human ocean that Link had been drowning in up til now.

Then he proceeded to swim through it.

Forgoing any subtlety the man bulled his way through the crowd. Grabbing the startled and confused celebrators with the oak trunks he had in place of arms, roughly shoving them behind as he marched Link through their cries of anger and dismay. The pace they started with was faster than Link had expected, let alone dared to hope for, and it only increased as the people ahead began forcing a path in advance of their march.

And then they stopped. The suddenness caused Link to crash into the large man, though it didn't budge him any further ahead. "Stand down citizen!"

Royal Guards, Link thought. He'd made it all the way to the parade, which was good for him, but judging by the guardsman's tone of voice, maybe not too good for his new friend.

"Easy guardsman! Easy!" Link called as he stepped around to get between the bearded man and the guardsman's...spear point. Several spears were aimed at his new found burly friend's burly chest, and behind the guardsman were the two Zeldas along with a third, noticeably riderless horse. The bearded man looked to be the appropriate amount of surprised and scared, but by the way his daughter was shouting, "Papa! Look knights! Horses Papa! The princesses! Papa! Papa look!" she didn't seem nearly as concerned.

"Lord Link?" the guardsman directly in front of him said, clearly startled by the Hero's unexpected appearance. "That really is you, Lord Link! Where have you been?"

"Of course it's me." Gah, _Lord_ Link. He had just managed to forget about that. While he'd resisted taking an official title in nobility for years, eventually there was no real choice but to give in. Zelda had been insistent that the hope of being raised to nobility as a reward for great deeds was very important to the common people of Hyrule, and that if they watched the deeds of even the Legendary Hero go unrewarded they'd assume that nothing they could possibly achieve would be worthy. In the end he had been rewarded a portion of an estate mostly of farmland belonging to a noble family that had fallen on financial hardship. The family was more than happy to continue running Link's portion of the farms in his absence, likely gaining profit from the reputation Link's name brought. Knowing he was part, even in a minor way, of someones political games was irksome, but it was what it was.

"Spears down please," Link said as he liberated himself from the baggy robes that he'd been hiding in. "This man was helping me out, we'll need to reward him later, but for now let's not threaten him."

"Of course Lord Link." The guardsmen lowered their spearheads and rendered a salute. "You'll be mounting your horse now, my lord?"

"Unfortunately I expect I will." Link handed the robes to the lead guardsman and placed his conical hat back onto his head from where he'd held it inside his leather belt. "Oh, don't think I was chastising you by the way. It's good you're all alert and cautious. I'm just flippant by nature." It was good too. Today of all days would be an ideal time for Ganon's followers, the disturbingly devoted and organized cult naming themselves 'Death Rattle', to make a move. In fact, if not for this threat Link very well may have risked Zelda's royal wrath to skip out on today's madness. "Stay alert."

"Of course Lord Link."

"Oh, and don't call me Lord will you?" Link checked his sword to make sure it was clear of its scabbard in case it was needed.

"Of course Lord Link."

"While I'd love to have an in-depth discussion on the accepted definition of 'of course'. I think I've tried the patients of our Queen-to-be and Awoken Princess enough for one day." The two Zeldas had reacted to his appearance with enough calm that Link could almost believe that they'd predicted the very thing, which knowing those two, they very well may have.

Despite the impressive aura of regality and the legendary name the two young women shared, Link once again noted that the princesses didn't much resemble each other. Princess Zelda I, Hyrule's very own Awoken Princess, wore an emerald dress that did a brilliant job of drawing attention to her curly red hair as she rode her horse sidesaddle, whereas, her very great grandniece and future Queen of Hyrule rode a fairy book white horse as gallantly as any knight while in a gold accented white and red dress designed specifically to allow for horseback riding, a slender yet deadly battle-ready sword at her side. Her straight blonde hair which hung long enough to touch her saddle was topped with a small golden crown that she'd soon be trading in for a much larger one.

The later gave a nearly imperceptible role of her eyes as Link reluctantly mounted his too big steed. "Easy, Epona, eeeeaasy...let's try to get along for just this little bit, pretty please."

Parade successfully joined, Link sighed inwardly and raised his arm in acknowledgment of the now wildly cheering crowd, waved to the bearded man, smiled an actual sincere smile at his perpetually awestruck daughter, and began his ride toward the castle. It was time to crown a queen and usher in a new golden age.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

Welcome to _The Triforce of Ruin_! A couple quick notes on what you're in for if you choose to stick around. This will be a sequel to the two original NES titles: The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II. I have plans for this to be fairly "epic" in terms of length, and while I have no doubt that it will be my longest fanfictional work to date, only time will tell if I'm aloud to de-quote the term epic. Either way expect something novel length when all's said and done. I'll try to get in a good rhythm and update at least once a week, but there will be a small delay after posting my first two chapters due to a major move I'm about to make. After my journey of a thousand miles is done and I'm all settled into my new status quo I'll do my best to find that aforementioned rhythm.

The standard disclaimers about me not owning the Zelda franchise or characters are in place as are the standard invitations for constructive criticism. I've got a couple grammar quirks I'm aware of. For example it has been pointed out to me that I occasionally mix up homonyms (such as seen and scene). Yep, turns out I've done that a couple times and damn it's annoying. Both for me going back and seeing the silly little errors and for you the reader stubbing your literary toes (as opposed to your literal toes) on them. Anyway, please point out such errors to me so that I can fix them post haste and thanks in advance. Oh, and I will be making an honest effort to minimize my mistakes, so hopefully they won't be overly distracting. Now that the standard part of my _Notes_ are taken care of, on to the non standard stuff!

 _ **Mythology Notes:**_

If you're reading this you're probably a fan of the _Legend of Zelda_ series. You may even be a super fan who's played every game a dozen times over and had your own well reasoned time line theories back before the _Hyrule Historia_ was a thing. If you're in the later group feel free to skip the mythology notes altogether. For the rest of you this little section may help. Before all that one quick disclaimer: You will not need these _Mythology Notes_ in order to understand and enjoy this fanfic. I don't want to scare anyone away with something that may imply over complication/convolution. Having a PhD level understanding of every Zelda game is most certainly not required to enjoy _The Triforce of Ruin_. In fact full disclosure, there are games in the series I've yet to play. These notes are more for people who are curious as to which games in the series I'll be taking elements from, and if you're really worried about spoilers about a specific game feel free to skip these as well. Long story short, I want these to be informative, a little fun, but not mandatory. Also, don't expect them every chapter.

One more thing. You super fans out there, feel free to correct any mistakes I make. I want the information I'm basing my story on to be as accurate as possible. Not just outright mistakes either, send me messages about any details you feel I may not be aware of. Okay, on to the first installment.

The official Zelda timeline gets a little wonky around _The Ocarina of Time,_ because of the time travelling nature of that game's story the timeline itself is split into three unique directions. One in which Link is returned to his childhood and Ganandorf's evil plot is thwarted before he can take over Hyrule, one in which Ganondorf does conquer Hyrule but is defeated by the adult version of Link, and finally a timeline in which Ganondorf defeats Link but is later sealed within the Golden Realm with the Triforce. This darkest timeline so to speak is actually the one with the most games on it. Here's what it looks like:

 _The Ocarina of Time - A Link to the Past - Oracle of Seasons/Ages - Link's Awakening - A Link Between Worlds - The Legend of Zelda (original) - The Adventure of Link_

This story takes place shortly after _Zelda II: The Adventure of Link_ , putting it at the tail end of the timeline. The "Link" in this story is the hero from the original two NES games. One of the interesting things from those games is that each one had a different Zelda in it. The Zelda Link was saving from the sleeping beauty curse in Zelda II was not the same princess as the one Ganon had kidnapped in the first game. I've always been intrigued by the idea of a sequel to these two games because of this dual Zelda element. Now, I realize the potential for confusion is there by having two lead characters with the same first name. I'll be doing my best to limit any vagueness that could lead to confusion. This is one of the reasons I'm starting with a coronation (that and in real life countries get ruled by queens and not princesses). So moving forward we'll have Queen Zelda and Princess Zelda, but beyond the different titles expect the two young women to be very different characters.

Well, until next time. Happy reading.


	2. Chapter II: In the Center

**The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter II: In the Center**

Queen Zelda's crown was heavy on her brow as she entered the castle throne room. Its weight was in the responsibility and duty it was forged to represent, more than the gold which it had been forged from. Heavier still was what lay before her. Something last done centuries before her birth. Something impossible until Link had acquired the long lost third fragment of the Triforce mere months ago. She would enter the Sacred Realm and restore the Triforce to its natural state.

She looked down at her right hand. She couldn't see the emblematic outline of the Triforce hidden beneath her ivory glove, but she could feel it. The Triforce itself wasn't inside her hand of course, that was only the outward proof that she was its vessel. The Triforce of Power resided within her soul. Soon it would be returned to the Sacred Realm and exist not in her individual soul, but the soul of Hyrule itself.

It had been a shock when the emblem first appeared on her hand. Luckily she had been alone, practicing her swordplay in an isolated part of the castle gardens where no prying eyes had been to witness the phenomena. Ganon may have been slain, but you could never be sure which eyes happened to belong to his loyal servants.

The very next day messenger pigeons had arrived from the northern reaches of her kingdom carrying the fantastical news of Link's accomplishment. He had retrieved the Triforce of Courage and awoken the sleeping Princess Zelda I from her centuries long curse. Soon after Link had returned to Castle City along with the newly titled Awoken Princess, and Zelda was able to get some answers to what the appearance of the Triforce emblem had meant.

According to the incorrigible Hero the Triforce of Courage had momentarily joined its siblings as one, but the three had separated again of their own accord once the wish to release the legendary Princess from her curse had been made. He had become the vessel for the Triforce of Courage, while Zelda I had become the vessel for the Triforce of Wisdom. It wasn't until meeting with her that they were able to confirm their suspicions that she had been chosen as the third vessel herself.

She and her fellow vessels had consulted along with her adviser and handmaid Impa and came to the conclusion that the three Triforce must be returned to their rightful home, the Sacred Realm, before they could be restored permanently as one. Preparations for entering the Sacred Realm had begun immediately, but the methods for entering were so ancient that even with Zelda I's aid they had taken until now to complete. The timing had aligned nearly perfectly with her birthday, the day she finally would be old enough to be crowned queen.

The sudden return of the legendary Zelda I straight out of a golden age fairy book had of course created its own form of chaos. With several high ranking nobles wondering if the crown was rightfully hers. Zelda hadn't been personally insulted in the slightest, though it was discouraging how men could nearly bring a kingdom to civil war by actively trying to avoid one. It was Zelda I's own council that had finally quelled the confusion and debate. Her brother, she had said, was made king centuries ago, thus ensuring his direct decedents were the lawful and rightful heirs. She herself was now technically a member of a branch family and no longer in the direct line. The matter then settled itself easily as everyone involved was able to relax from the unspoken fear that the 'other' Zelda would make a claim. Nobody wanted a broken Crown and broken Kingdom. Most fortunately is that 'nobody' included Princess Zelda I. As it stood she would remain the Awoken Princess and serve as an adviser while being named next in line until the point that Zelda was able to produce a legitimate heir.

What was the most amazing and wondrous was the fast friendship she had already formed with her namesake. Monarchdom was a heavy burden, but at least now it wasn't as lonely. It was also nice to have family again, even family as unconventionally distant as a very great grandaunt. She'd had no actual family since her father had been killed battling Ganon's army.

The Awoken Princess now stood in the throne room's far corner, conferring with Impa and Gaspechi. The elderly man's bushy white eyebrows furrowed with concentration as he went over the ancient rituals magic for the thousandth time, ensuring he'd get it right when the time came. She'd let them to it for now, besides, the one she currently wanted to speak with was lounging on a petitioner's bench trying his best to stay out of site. A futile effort. Link was not in anyway out of mind.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" she asked in the iciest tone she could manage as she walked to stand before the infuriating young man. "Was it absolutely necessary to endanger one of my citizens just to make a grand entrance?"

"I wasn't _trying_ to make any kind of entrance," Link said, actually having the gall to sound affronted. "I was going to meet you at the castle, things just didn't work out how I'd planned."

"What could possibly have made you think that was an acceptable alternative? Was waving your hand at starry eyed children for an hour that dreadful a prospect?" Link could get away with a lot, most of the time indulging his free spirit was fine, even helpful on occasion, but enough was most certainly _more_ than enough.

"Epona-," he started to say.

Zelda cut him off. "Is a fine animal and in no way 'out to get you'."

"If you keep making me ride her," Link said, "Death Rattle's job will be done for them!"

"Really, because I don't recall her throwing you and trampling you to death during the parade, and by Nayru's Wisdom that horse is more than smart enough to know you deserved it." Zelda forced her voice to stay icy, but goddess she wanted to shout!

"I already had one major ordeal to contend with," Link insisted. "Putting me on that monster's back and parading me, _literally_ parading me, around town was just cruelty atop hardship!"

"The speech," Zelda said flatly. "I'm glad you brought that up. I told you to prepare an actual speech. What exactly did you think that meant?"

"I did prepare!" Link somehow managed to look sincerely aghast. "It took me weeks!"

"It was two sentences long."

"That was your own advice. Keep it simple. Nice and clean. 'I'm honored to defend and protect this great land of Hyrule. I will be glad to serve its new queen'. Is both simple and clean!" Link placed his hat down beside him on the bench and ran his fingers through his hair. "Besides that was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. Another word longer and I may have died even after surviving Epona."

"Terrifying?" Zelda shouldn't have been surprised that Link could still leave her utterly dumbfound, but somehow she was. "You have fought dragons! On nothing but the word of an old woman you hunted down the Prince of Darkness himself and killed him! You could have even let one of my aides write the speech for you. Surely even you could have recited from a script?"

"And have the goodly people of Hyrule think their Hero dishonest? The words had to be my own."

"You are the Hero of Courage, not the Hero of Honesty-to-a-Fault, and frankly you're not worthy of either title. God and goddess!"

In the pregnant silence that followed, she realized that against her best efforts she had indeed started shouting. Behind her Zelda I politely cleared her throat. It took a moment for the Queen to regain control, but even as she turned to face the others she knew her face remained at least partially flushed. "The preparations are complete?"

Impa stood beside Zelda I and Gaspechi with an irritating twinkle of amusement in her clouded eyes. "They are Your Majesty. Any time you are ready we may begin."

Zelda nodded. "Let us do it then. This may be the most important moment in any of our lives. Link?"

"Ready Princess." Link put his hat back on and stood. "Err, Queen...Your Majesty."

Zelda sighed, regrettably aloud, and noted with annoyance that this only caused Impa's twinkling eyes to shine brighter. "You've never addressed me with a title before, why start calling me by anything but my name now."

"Now there's two of you." Link said. "It can get a little confusing."

Zelda I actually giggled. "You could just use those nicknames you came up for us."

The Queen turned her gaze back to Link who grimaced and looked away. "Nicknames?"

Impa's eyes may as well have been shooting fireworks. "Sleepy. And Grumpy."

The Awoken Princess broke into a full laugh, and the Hero of Courage loudly groaned as he pointedly avoided eye contact with the stone faced Queen of Hyrule. Gaspechi cleared his throat. Evidently not at all comfortable to be in the midst of Hyrule's three most important individuals as they acted like...regular people if you were being generous, obnoxious children if you weren't. Queen Zelda was feeling a lot of different things, but she was pretty sure that generous was not one of them.

Impa smiled at what should have been an irritating scene with grandmotherly fondness. "Cherish moments like this children. But for now we aught begin our work."

She was right. At least about beginning their work. Without further ado, lest Link fall into a steaming pit of flippancy in response to just about anything she might say, Queen Zelda lead the small group up to and behind her father's - no it was her's now – throne and placed her hands upon the wall allowing the magic of her royal bloodline to flow into the stone in the way Princess Zelda I had shown her. With a disconcerting grinding noise a large ten by ten square of stone rose up and out of their path revealing the hidden passage that had been forgotten long before the time of the Queen's birth.

The five entered and started up the winding spiral stairway in relative silence. Even Link appeared truly solemn under the magnitude of what lay ahead. The first time they'd entered she and Link had been surprised to find the walls lined with readily burning torches, kept alive indefinitely by the ancient magic of Hyrule's late rulers.

The single large circular room at the stairwell's apex was at first a dimly lit anticlimax. It wasn't until the tall ornamental double doors at the room's entrance were closed that three massive braziers placed in a triangular formation at the room's outer edges would ignite. What they revealed was breathtaking.

At first it was the braziers themselves that impressed, or rather it was their flames. Ten foot pillars of bright golden fire. A color more akin to the sun than anything earthbound. After the golden fire's initial awe wore off and their eyes adjusted to the increased luminescence the room's true marvel was revealed. Massive murals depicting scenes straight out of legend. Some well remembered, many long forgotten. A grand tree surrounded by fairies. The legendary zora and goron, populating ancient kingdoms built both in lake and volcano. Ganon.

The Prince of Darkness was portrayed unmistakably, any child would have guessed who the trident wielding beast was supposed to be, but Zelda and Link could personally attest to the disturbing accuracy of the painted images. If the history portrayed on these walls was to be believed the beast later called Ganon had indeed started out a rarely born man of the gerudo. There were many myths telling of his monstrous origin, but that particular story had brought significant hardship on the desert swept gerudo of today. The single male gerudo, born only every century or so, had once been such a respected rarity that they were invariably made to serve as king, but rumors had spoken for many years that they now killed any male child born in fear of returning the great enemy back to the world. Many rumors also spoke of a great civil war that had torn the tribes apart around the time of Zelda's birth. She had always thought these things tragic and never believed that particular myth more than a nasty rumor itself. What did it mean if it was actually true?

But the villain wasn't portrayed in a vacuum. There were heroes. A group that could only have been the near mythical seven sages. Were a zora and goron truly among their ranks? Zelda's ancestors were painted across legend in plurality. The Princess Zeldas who had faced the darkness and for the sake of Hyrule fought back. The dress Zelda now wore on the day of her coronation had been designed after the one modeled by her many legendary ancestors. Then there was the sword in the stone. The Master Sword and Blade of Evil's Bane. A weapon lost to the ages that had once been wielded again and again during Hyrule's darkest hours. Wielded by the Legendary Hero of each era. The predecessors of today's Link, their own Hero of Prophesy and Courage.

What had been the most shocking revelation to Zelda, and even Link himself, was the simple detail of each former hero's garb. What Link himself had thought random, chosen, and unique was in truth something more. Something destined. Each of the Heroes past wore nearly identical green clothing as the present one, down to that ridiculous hat. That had ended any debate over giving him a proper uniform, and as much as that had initially disappointed her, it was more than worth it to see the overly free spirited man wrestle with deep thoughts and an existential crisis.

Her thoughts were not anything as frivolous right then. Any outside frustration was made momentarily unimportant as she gazed upon such wonders with only awe. Awe that was tempered with slight melancholy. All these legends, all this history she had never known. Hyrule's grand and storied past. "We've lost so much," she said, speaking her thoughts out loud without realizing it.

"We'll find it," Link replied at her side.

For the briefest instant Zelda thought she might lose herself enough to actually slap the man for being flip in such a moment, but as soon as she saw his face it was apparent that despite his unconventional wording Link was being perfectly serious and sincere. He met her eyes and gave a slight nod. On days like this one had been it was easy to forget that Link could be serious, but on the occasions that he was it became easy to remember all the young man, the Hero, had accomplished. All he had done not only for Hyrule, but for herself.

Zelda returned his solemn nod, honestly grateful to have him as an ally and friend.

"Is everyone ready to begin?" the Queen asked. The group needed no words to answer. They were ready. She was ready as well. Now sealed safely inside the gateway chamber Zelda was on the precipice of finally securing a future for Hyrule. Death Rattle had missed their last and greatest opportunity to sow the seeds of chaos that they intended.

In the center of the room's white marble floor lay the image of the complete threefold golden Triforce, the same as it did on the hands of the actual Triforce's vessels. The Queen removed her gloves, it wasn't necessary, but she wanted to see her own marking. Its top triangle pulsating slightly stronger than the other two, as a sign that the Triforce of Power resided within her. Link hadn't been hiding his, at least not after joining the parade, because it was widely known that the Hero of Prophesy had been marked by the Triforce before starting his great adventure to save the cursed Princess. That Princess removed her gloves as well.

It was time. The Queen stepped forward and took her spot in the top triangle in the Triforce. The other two vessels followed to there respective places. Facing the center Link stood to Zelda's left, her namesake Zelda I stood to her right. The three extended their Triforce marked hands until they met in the center. The markings which always shone with a faint golden light now pulsed brightly enough that it was hard to look at them directly.

The Triforce itself desired the return to the Sacred Realm, so getting there would not be difficult. No, the way back was what they had been preparing for over the last few months. Their fate was now held in the hands of the two who had accompanied her and her fellow vessels. Zelda was not worried. They were the two people she trusted most in Hyrule. Impa had long been her handmaid and teacher. Gaspechi had been there to offer the gods' blessing the day her parents had wed and later when she had been born. She knew of no man who had served the kingdom more faithfully or any besides her own parents and Impa that honestly loved her as more than a Princess, but as a person. Zelda could not possibly worry if it was these two who held her fate.

The two elders took their positions on either side of the golden emblem and began their long practiced chant. Ancient magic crackled through the air. The braziers' golden flame shifted in color. Crimson pure and strong as Din's Power. Cerulean clear and deep as Nayru's Wisdom. Emerald bright and wild as Farore's Courage.

Back to gold as glorious as the powers that had forged their world.

All was black.

Or maybe it was white. Zelda couldn't tell the difference anymore.

She could feel the ancient spell hook into her soul. Tethering her to the physical realm of Hyrule, land of her birth, home to her destiny as great or small as it may be. She was now free to enter the Sacred Realm and knew that she would return. She released the Triforce of Power. The act was effortless. Natural. The unnatural thing she realized had been the act of containing it. At the same instant the Triforce of Wisdom and that of Courage were too released. The three entered the Sacred Realm.

The enclosed room containing the great mural had vanished. Now they stood atop a great stone pillar, perhaps a tower, without ceiling or walls. The Sacred Realm stretched out before them, vaster than Hyrule and infused with golden magnificence. It was hard to believe that this place of absolute beauty had once been corrupted by Ganon's darkness. How hard the decision to use such holiness as a base prison must have been! How trying were those dark days to inspire such desperation?

The defeat of one Legendary Hero had brought the darkness. The victory of another Legendary Hero had restored the light.

Now she stood in that pure realm along with the Legendary Hero who had fought to preserve that restored light. Her namesake, the Awoken Princess Zelda I had once stood here centuries ago, alongside her father when he had chosen to do the unthinkable. Had she felt such awe then? Her expression said that she felt it now, despite the fact that to her she had been in this very place not that very long ago. For several eternal minutes they stood in silent profound awe.

The three unconnected pieces of the Triforce floated freely before them, dancing in slow circles around one another. Home at last.

The Awoken Princess placed her hand on the Queen's shoulder. "All that is left is for us to make our wish, Your Majesty."

Zelda smiled and nodded. "Yes." Facing the Triforce she held her hands out to her sides, Zelda I took her right hand and Link took her left. Joined the three declared their wish as one.

"Rid the land of Hyrule of those who follow Ganon. Protect all those who dwell within from their malice and evil."

Moving along with the intentions in their words and hearts the three Triforce accelerated around one another humming with power and light. Then they too joined as one. Snapping together with a crisp suddenness, their natural state finally restored.

Zelda could not pull her gaze from the spectacle. The magic flowing forth vastly superseded anything she'd ever felt. It was glorious and beautiful. It was magnificent and humbling. It was dumbfounding. Terrifying. Disempowering.

It was wrong.

The very space around them shuddered under the terrible weight of power. Simultaneously Zelda felt herself being drawn into and repulsed away from the Triforce, the epicenter of all. The Sacred Realm howled in furious silence, its golden radiance burning to black.

"What the hell is this?" She heard Link screaming over the silence. "Zelda?"

"I don't know!" she yelled back, the two drawing their swords in unison against the threat, but just what was the threat? The Triforce itself? How did you fight the very powers of creation? She made an attempt to advance toward the epicenter, but the Triforce kept her from gaining any ground no matter how her feet moved. To her right she realized that it was preventing Zelda I from making an instinctual retreat in the same way. The young woman's eyes were held wide in an absolute terror. She understood the panic in those eyes. It was embedded within her soul too, threatening to overwhelm the little self control she still possessed.

She spun to her left coming face to face with Link who had also turned to face her. "What do we do?" both shouted.

Link slammed the palm of his free right hand to his face with a laugh just short of hysterical. Zelda growled in frustration and looked back to the golden terror. Black lines, like cracks on a frozen lake, had begun spreading out from the Triforce's center covering its golden surface. What had once been an empty space centered where the three pieces of the Triforce met had filled in with solid _blackness_ , but whereas cracks the shade of midnight spread from the dark centerpiece throughout the Triforce proper, brilliant golden lines had began spreading from outside into the inner black triangle.

Whatever this abomination that was transpiring in front of them was, it was happening fast. Too fast. Then a motion caught Zelda's attention to the side Link stood. The Hero of Courage had hefted his sword as though it was javelin, his attention focused to such a fine point that his face looked as though it had never touched emotion. Zelda had seen this before. In the years following his victory over Ganon, Link had honed his considerable talent for magic, but even before he'd entered the land of Hyrule he had one impressive trick already up his sleeve. He could throw his sword with perfect accuracy and startling speed, only to have the weapon reappear in his hands an instant after striking its mark. In his quest to restore the Triforce of Wisdom which she herself had shattered and hid, he'd found an ancient sword infused with magic. Since then he'd become more reliant on that sword's magical projectiles than his old trick.

Whether his sword's magic was currently failing Link or if he'd simply reacted on old reflex Zelda couldn't say. Whether his sword could even reach its target she didn't know. Link likely didn't know himself, but he threw it anyway.

The sword cut through the turbulent space between them and the Triforce with unnatural speed. The forces keeping them in check did not seem to effect the ancient weapon. The sword's blade struck the Triforce in its blackened centerpiece, and everything stopped. The turbulence, the silence, the cracks of black or gold, time itself. Stopped. Frozen. Then with a flash all was noise.

Reality itself quaked.

The Triforce burst into three spinning tumbling pieces once again. Zelda gasped in sudden pain as the Triforce's mark seared itself back onto her hand. The first time it had appeared there had been no physical sensation. This time it absolutely screamed. Worse was what she felt in her soul. Before, she had been aware of the enormity of the magic entering her, but the magnitude was somehow neutral, void of agenda. This time couldn't have been more different.

The Triforce of Power _fled_ into her soul.

Zelda could not flee, she along with her fellow vessels, could only scream.

Then it was over.

The Sacred Realm had returned to its former serenity. Save for clouds that now rumbled in the distance. That was chilling enough, but what truly scared her was the thing floating where the Triforce had been. The blackness that had manifested within the Triforce remained.

A fourth Triforce. Upside down and black.

Then Zelda I spoke. The young woman had fallen to her knees, her curly red hair in absolute disarray as she stared at the black Triforce with horror and something else, something worse. What was it? Realization? She spoke only four words. "In the center, darkness."

* * *

 _ **Mythology Notes: Link's Sword and Sorcery**_

Link having the ability to launch magical projectiles from his sword is now a franchise mainstay. While it hasn't been around for every game it has been in some of the most recent (Link Between Worlds and Skyward Sword) and was also present from the very beginning. Most people, myself included, probably viewed the sword shaped projectiles as some kind of 8-bit magical beam. This is in fact the direction the series went for canon once better graphical technology allowed for greater detail, but early on some people did talk about it in terms of Link throwing his sword. Originally I was going to ignore this early assumption altogether, but then I came across an early concept art for the first _The Legend of Zelda_ actually showing Link throw his sword. So I thought, what if originally Link was just tossing his sword around Mjolnier style, but after acquiring the _Magic Sword_ it was a magical projectile and not a physically tossed blade.

I feel this works specifically for this incarnation of Link, because in Zelda II as Link levels up he learns and grows stronger with magic. While other Links may be limited to using magically infused tools the Link from the NES actually had magic of his own. And not in some vague non-specific way, but in the literal "You're a wizard, Harry!" kind of way. Seeing as how this innate ability to use magic is a large part of this specific Link's uniqueness I thought it made sense to incorporate the throwing sword idea.

About that sword. The concept of the Master Sword first came around in the Super NES game _A Link to the Past._ In the original game the best sword is simply called the Magic Sword. A lot of people consider it to be the Master Sword itself via retcon. This makes sense and is perfectly valid reasoning, but it's not the way I'm interpreting it for the purposes of my story. The Magic Sword Link has right now is just that, a magical sword he found during his quest. It is not the Master Sword itself. Don't worry, I've got plans to relate the two.

Until next time, happy reading!


	3. Chapter III: The Nature of Change

**The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter III: The Nature of Change**

Everything you knew could change in the blink of an eye. Princess Zelda did not have a monopoly on this truth, but she knew it far better than most. One day her father had been alive. His laugh, his calm measured wisdom, his surprising dry wit. These things were certain. She knew this.

And one day she awoke and none of it was true.

People died. This was a truth even children learned before long. Nobody liked to dwell on it, and it was the tendency to put it out of your mind until the tragic inevitably occurred. Even still, it was _known_. Somewhere deep in the hidden parts of the mind people knew this truth. They could adapt to the change and continue living. It could be hard. It _was_ hard. It was also mundane. Normal. Yes, death was a harsh truth, but harshness and normalcy had never been mutually exclusive.

Change was not limited to the mundane. As it was often slow, yet sometimes faster than possibly thought. Change was also often normal, yet sometimes deviant in ways that could not be foreseen. Often mundane, occasionally change was something else. _Arcane_.

One day she was Zelda the Princess of the Kingdom of Hyrule. She had a brother she loved despite his orneriness. A trait she expected most sisters' brothers shared. People knew her. She was loved. She was familiar. _They_ were familiar. Hyrule was deep in the warm embrace of a golden age.

And one day she 'Awoke' and none of it was true.

Change could come in the form of a brother's misplaced trust and a wizard's powerful curse. It could in the single blink of an eye render everyone you had ever known dead. All of their children and grandchildren twenty generations deep, dead and long forgotten. What was familiar was made not but the faintest motes on the dust of history. One day she was the Princess Zelda. Then she was tragic legend. The mythical sleeping Princess Zelda I. A golden age of prosperity and light turned to an age of decline on the precipice of an all consuming darkness. One day the name Ganon was a villain from myth, and then all it took was waking up to find that an enemy most ancient had become the harsh truth of people's everyday lives.

Sometimes change was as shocking as a lover's slap. Sometimes snow in the midst of summer. Defeat on the eve of victory. She knew this. Princess Zelda, now called Zelda I by people who's great grandparents had been told her story from the pages of a fairy book, the Awoken Princess herself knew the nature of change better than most. Yet the depth of change was beyond experience. Even her own was nothing compared to its infinite capacity. Change was not limited to the realm of the mundane, not even limited to the realm of the arcane. Change existed in an even higher realm, that of the _divine_. One day the Triforce was the embodiment of Wisdom, Power, and Courage. One day it was the threefold golden power of creation.

And one day something woke up and none of it was true. The world you thought had been golden and right, could in the blink of an eye be turned upside down and black.

"In the center, darkness." She said.

Those had been the words. The words that had changed everything. Her father had not understood them. She had not really understood them either, though she knew that those words were what had driven him to do what he'd done. The thing that ensured he'd never be simply another forgotten King, a royal footnote in Hyrule's history. No, her father would forever be remembered. He was the man who split the Triforce and ended Hyrule's golden age.

The legends, what people thought of as 'her' legends, painted the picture of a benevolent King making a difficult decision. That much was true enough, but the reasons for his decision had been lost and muddled. They believed he had split apart the Triforce to keep future leaders from abusing its golden power. Her brother's manipulation by that terrible wizard...she still shivered when she thought about Vaati, had led to the belief that it had likely been the prince himself whom the King was keeping the Triforce from. An easy conclusion to come to, but a false one.

People didn't know the players in this legend as the real people they had been, and how could they? They didn't know that her brother had never been the kind of man who would have abused the power of the gods. They only knew of his decision's results. Results which came from trusting a man, a thing, like the wizard Vaati. A decision which came from a panicked reaction to the upturned status quo. Of course her brother had panicked. The Triforce was what his kingdom, his people, had come to rely on. Without it the golden age of prosperity and peace could come to an end. The grand irony was, though what he'd done had painted him forever as a minor mythological villain, he had been right. Without the Triforce Hyrule had fallen to decline. Her brother's fears had been well founded.

It was this fear and not greed that had caused him to take extreme risks in his futile effort to recover the Triforce of Courage. Fear and confusion. He hadn't been home when their father had had the dream. The one which he'd heard those words. _In the center, darkness._ Her brother was touring the land, coming to know the people he'd soon be ruling. Their father had been sick and had refused to use the golden power on such a trivial thing as his own health. _Everything has a cost,_ he'd told them. Most people, even the most learned of philosophers rarely thought of what cost there could be in the regular use of the Triforce. A wish here for good crops, a wish there to undo the tragedy caused by a freak mudslide. If anything most people believed the royal family was far too conservative with their use of the golden power. They would have had it used to right every terrible thing, and then when no more terrible things remained to right, onto the merely inconvenient.

The royal family had never been this cavalier with the holy relic. There was wisdom in being cautious and their father truly believed that all things had a cost, but while he hadn't used the Triforce to the extent many people would have preferred, he did make use of it. At least until his dream. A dream in which the Sacred Realm had burned black and Hyrule was eternally devastated. The dream had convinced him that the cost of abusing the Triforce was far greater than anyone could have imagined.

He had woken screaming those words. _In the center, darkness!_

She had found him in that state. Screaming in terror. Hysterical and panicked. Sobbing in despair. Over and over he screamed the words until finally calming down. Slumping as though all strength had been drained from him into his daughter's arms. He then stayed silent for so long that she had begun to worry that he'd never speak again. By this time she had become very nearly as terrified as he had seemed to be. That night she cradled her father, sobbing in terror, not understanding what had happened to him. Until finally he regained his senses and told her of his dream.

He hadn't understood what the darkness was or what 'in the center' meant, but he had told her that he knew it had something to do with the Triforce. He told her that he knew what he had to do, and though others may have been shocked to learn that the King intended to separate and hide the Triforce of Courage, Zelda had no reservations in accepting the course of action. She may not have seen the dream itself, but she had seen the truth in her father's terror.

Together they did the unthinkable. They broke the Triforce. Then her father hid one third of it, the Triforce of Courage, somewhere even she didn't know. And then he died.

There was fallout. Her brother, distraught by the loss of their father and confused by the radical decision of splitting the Triforce, could not be convinced that there had been any real threat. He understood why she had helped their father with his 'mad decision', but he did not agree with it. In his eyes she had made a critical error due to an unfounded fear. Vaati had been the greatest hope he found in his quest to right this error. The wizard had been _wrong_ in some hard to explain fundamental way, but her brother was blinded to that by his own fear.

The rest of the story she knew only by the legends now told. Zelda did not remember being cursed. She remembered her confrontation with her brother. Trying to get him to see Vaati's darkness, if not the truth in their father's wisdom. Then she remembered waking up, a young man in the Hero's legendary green garments at her side. The Triforce of Courage rediscovered and the whole world changed.

Even with everything she'd lost, there had been profound relief. Hyrule had fallen upon great hardship, but even still her kingdom survived, and the Triforce had finally called out to the Hero of Prophesy just as her father claimed it eventually would. The King's unseen crisis must have been averted. It would once again be safe to unite the golden power. It should have been.

It wasn't. In the air before her hung the proof. It wasn't a vague prophetic dream, a maybe or what if. It was real and solid and _black._ It looked like the other pieces of the Triforce, except that it hung point downwards and rather than radiating golden light it seemed to draw in the light around it. The world around it dimming until all that remained was a triangular spot of pure darkness. She wanted to look away, but it drew her vision the way she imagined it sucked in the light. She was trapped, forever lost to gaze into that dark infinity...

"What did you say!"

With a shock she looked up at the young woman who was now violently shaking her shoulders. "What did you just say!" she said again, her voice sharp more from urgency than anger. "About darkness, do you know what that thing is, Zelda?"

Zelda stared up through tear blurred eyes at the young queen. The Zelda of this era. "In the center, darkness. My father dreamed it. That's why we broke the Triforce apart," Zelda spoke to her namesake as though in a dream. Finding the words to her thoughts had never been this hard, had it?

"Why didn't you tell us? You should have warned us!" the Queen asked. She now sounded both angry and confused. She sounded hurt as well. Betrayed. Had she betrayed her new friends? That had never been her intention.

"It shouldn't be this way," she said slowly. "I don't understand. My father told me the Triforce would call out to the Hero when the time was right. I didn't know..." Zelda could feel the tears now dripping down off of her face and heard her voice crack as she started to cry. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I didn't..."

Link placed a hand on the Queen's shoulder. "Ease up. I don't think this is her fault."

Queen Zelda's eyes flashed with anger as she looked over at him. "She...!"

"I know. I know," Link said calmly, trying to diffuse the Queen's anger. "But we need to get out of this place before we start questioning her."

"And just leave that," the Queen gestured towards the black Triforce, "thing here in the Sacred Realm?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do about that 'thing' right now." Link raised his left hand and pointed to his Triforce mark. "Zelda, the Triforce is afraid of whatever that thing is. The Triforce of Courage is _afraid._ "

The Queen nodded, reigning in her anger in a brief moment of visible effort. "You're right. We need to go back." She turned to look back down at the crying Princess. "You _will_ explain everything, but it can wait for now. Come on, we've got to go," she said helping Zelda to her feet. "Are you ready, Link?"

The young man took a moment to pick something off the ground. A warped and melted hilt connecting to only a few inches of shattered blade. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said, "but damn. I really liked that sword."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes**_

After posting my first two chapters I've gone back and added some author's notes, these will explain my mythology notes section for those interested. I've now completed my move mentioned in those past notes, and while I'll still be plenty busy in the coming days I should be able to find more time for writing.

 _ **Mythology Notes: A Wizard named...Vaati?**_

The wizard who cursed Princess Zelda I with an endless sleep is never given a proper identity. Although it is widely assumed that he was an aspect of Ganon, much like the wizard Agahnim was revealed to be in _A Link to the Past._ Once again, I've decided to interpret this in a more unconventional way. The name Vaati will be familiar to those who've played either of the _Four Swords_ titles or _The Minish Cap._

 _'_ Til next time. Happy Reading!


	4. Chapter IV: On the Edges of Memory

**The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter IV: On the Edges of Memory**

Impa's face carried none of the levity it had earlier as she watched the trio's reemergence from the Sacred Realm. Something had obviously gone terribly wrong. Gaspechi was visibly shocked to witness their haggard state, not to mention the Awoken Princess staring blankly at the ground racked with sobs. "Your Majesty?" Impa asked.

"I can't explain right now," the Queen began before starting over. "No, I _don't know how_ to explain right now. Something went wrong with the Triforce." She motioned to the crying princess. "See to it that she gets some rest. I'll need to talk to her once she's recovered herself, for now I need to at least make an appearance at the festivities in order to keep up appearances. A storm's coming for Hyrule, Impa. Goddesses prepare us."

Without adding anything further Queen Zelda made her way down the long stairwell. Impa watched her go and nodded to Gaspechi, who gave a quick nod in understanding and left to follow the Queen. "Here now," the elderly woman said, taking the Awoken Princess's hands into her own and letting the girl rest her head on her stooped shoulders. "Link?" she asked, turning to the young man even as she comforted the Princess.

"Well how do I put it?" Link said as he casually juggled the ruined remains of his sword between his two hands. "It could have gone better."

"How bad is it?" she asked levelly.

"Well," Link said, using the ruined blade to scratch behind an ear, "on a scale from one to upside-down evil Triforce, I'd say it's a solid all-the-way bad."

Impa nodded gravely. "I see. What should we do right now?"

Link sighed. "Honestly, _that_ Zelda's right," he made a walking motion with his fingers as he pointed down the stairwell. " _This_ Zelda needs to recuperate, and _that_ Zelda needs to calm herself before interrogating _this_ Zelda."

"I'll see that she gets some rest," Impa said. "What will you do?"

"For starters," Link began walking backwards towards the stairs as he spoke. "I'm going to go find a nice secluded corner of the castle to terror-vomit into. After that, I'll probably get a cool mug of ale to keep me company as I ponder my universally abysmal luck for having been the reincarnated Legendary Hero. After that? Hero things most likely."

The corner of Impa's lips pulled up in a slight smile. "Milk's better all around for the nerves."

Link snorted a laugh as he spun around and began down the stairs. "I'll never understand you Hyrulians and your obsession with milk." With a backwards wave he disappeared from view, leaving Impa and Princess Zelda I alone in the antechamber.

"Come now, child." Still holding the Awoken Princess's hand, Impa started toward the stairs. "You need to rest, and after we can begin sorting this whole thing out."

Zelda nodded as she allowed herself to be lead downward, back to the castle throne room. She'd managed to stop crying, but her face remained damp with her tears. Slowly, she raised her free hand and wiped the remaining tears away. It still felt like she was in a dream. No longer the nightmare that it had been but ethereal nonetheless. "I'm so sorry," she said softly, taking some small joy in finding that her voice no longer cracked.

"Hush now, child." Impa gave her a comforting maternal smile. "Whatever happened in there, I'm sure it wasn't your fault."

Zelda shook her head. Whether in agreement that it indeed wasn't her fault or in disagreement, she wasn't entirely sure. "Maybe not," she finally said, "but I wasn't able to do anything to help either. I was useless."

Stopping before the door to Zelda's new bedchambers, Impa let go of her hand and instead lifted the young woman's chin to look into her still bleary eyes. "Listen to me child. Sometimes there isn't anything to be done."

"Impa, you don't understand. Link and the Queen. They both reacted to the situation. Their first instinct was to fight it. _To do something_. Mine was to run. I would have abandoned them both if I could have gotten away, and when I couldn't escape I broke down. I just collapsed out of fear. I'm a coward."

Impa actually snorted at this. "Can you swim, child? Are you strong in the water?"

Zelda blinked at the unexpected question. "Yes? I suppose so. As a child my brother and I would sometimes swim at the shores of Lake Hylia."

"And did your father teach you to swim by dropping you into the deepest parts of the lake, telling you to make it to shore or drown?" Impa continued.

"Of course not!" Zelda gasped. "That's a horrible thing to do. No father would do that to their child."

Impa shook her head softly. "I don't think you a coward, but you are yet naive. Some fathers would. That and worse. But back to the example of swimming. I've seen small children plunged into the depths for the first time swim out of it as though it's second nature. Others in their place would drown, but that doesn't mean that they would drown if first taught to swim before the ordeal. Courage isn't exactly the same, but the similarities remain. Some are born able to innately conquer fear, while others must learn to deal with it. You are simply inexperienced, child, but only a coward if you choose to never try to master your fear. Link and the Queen have been swimming in deep waters their entire lives, just because this time you would have drown without their aid, doesn't mean it will always be so."

"Maybe you're right," Zelda said, entering her chambers and stepping up to her plush bed. Going to sleep now seemed like the cowardly thing to do, but she felt so drained from the previous experience that it was unlikely she'd be able to resist. "I don't know if it's possible to learn courage, Impa. I hope that you're right and that I can. But I honestly don't know."

Impa coughed a few times into her gnarled fist. "You don't know, but you will try."

Zelda smiled at the elderly woman. "Yes. I will try."

"Good," Impa said, "in that case I shall leave you to your rest. Sleep well my Princess."

As Impa turned to leave Zelda called out, struck with a sudden curiosity. "Impa, I have to ask. Are you Sheikah?"

Impa stopped as though stunned, turned back slowly, looked at Zelda with wide eyes, and fell into a coughing fit.

"I'm so sorry!" Zelda said. "I wasn't trying to upset you. I shouldn't have asked that!"

"No. No." Impa waved the Awoken Princess off as she recovered from the sudden fit. "I was just surprised is all. It's been a very long time since I've heard that word."

"It's just that, back before my curse, I had a bodyguard and teacher also named Impa. She was of the Sheikah tribe. I originally assumed that you were, but after not hearing neither you nor the Queen mention it, I wasn't sure."

Impa nodded, looking less surprised, but now something else. Zelda wondered what it was. Confusion? "Yes," Impa said. "I am of the Sheikah Tribe, but the Queen does not know. Nobody does. Even I seemed to have forgotten. Curious." She spoke the last word softly, more to herself than to Zelda.

The Princess found it odd that Impa could simply forget the people she belonged to, but Impa was very old, and some of the Sheikah could live a very long time, the handmaid may have been more ancient than any of them knew. "She was a good woman," Zelda said. "I miss her. I miss her and wish I had never ignored her wishes to teach me to fight."

"Oh?" said Impa.

Zelda smiled a bit sheepishly. "Earlier you called me naive. You're right, I have been. My Impa thought it would behoove me to learn to protect myself. I guess I honestly did not believe that my life would ever be in any real danger. Now I can see that I was naive, and that she was probably just hoping to prepare me for the event that I..." she paused for a moment, "ended up taking my first swim."

Impa was nodding again. "Yes. Yes, I imagine that you were very important to her."

Zelda's smile brightened a bit as she thought of her bodyguard, teacher, and friend. "I did learn so much from her though. She was teaching me to read, there at the end."

"To read?" Impa asked.

"Yes. Well, not Hylian. I of course was tutored at a very young age to read and write. She was teaching me to read the ancient languages. Ancient Hylian, Terminian, Gerudoan, all the languages the world had mostly forgotten. Even the Sheikah language." Zelda couldn't help her smile from widening as she began to ramble. "Though there wasn't much to read of the last one. She said that the Sheikah kept an oral record of most of their history, but even still a couple old texts remained. There was this one book..."

Zelda stopped talking. That book. The one she had only begun to translate. One of Hyrule's secret histories. "Golden god and goddess," she whispered.

Impa, having now mostly recovered herself, frowned up at the Princess. "Princess? What is it?"

"A book!" Zelda said, her gestures becoming animated. "There's an old tome in the Royal Archive written in ancient Sheikah. On its cover is a very odd picture." Zelda paced back and forth as she spoke. "Very odd. It was an upside down Triforce, done in black and not gold. Not like the black Triforce that's appeared in the Sacred Realm. That one was more like the negative space inside the Triforce had taken shape. This was a full threefold Triforce, but still, it was oriented the wrong way and done deliberately black. It can't be a coincidence, Impa! Can it?"

"Without having witnessed exactly what transpired within the Golden Realm, I can't rightly say." Impa said, "but to be honest this seems like a lead the others will want to follow up on."

"Yes," Zelda said, growing even more excited. "I need to go tell them. We can begin preparations for..."

Impa took the young woman by the shoulders again. "Later, child. This book may very well be an important clue, but you still need a bit of rest."

"But..." Zelda began.

"No buts, my Princess," Impa said. "For now you should get what little rest you can. I'm sure the Queen will be summoning both you and the Hero soon enough."

Zelda sighed. Even with her sudden excitement, she still felt every bit as tired as she had before. Impa was right, she needed sleep. At the very least a short nap. "I suppose you're right, Impa," she said, sitting down onto her bed. "I'll try to rest a little now."

Impa smiled and went back to the door. "Very good. Sleep well, my Princess."

As Impa started to close the bedchamber's door she heard Zelda speak as she began fading to sleep. "I'm glad...that I remembered...that book."

"Yes," Impa whispered to herself as she softly closed the door. "It is funny what important things can lie on the far edges of memory."


	5. Chapter V: Revelations of the Forgotten

**The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter V: Revelations of the Forgotten**

Queen Zelda smiled at another nobleman, and again she lied to their face. _The Triforce was now both whole and residing within the Golden Realm_. A lie, one which would keep her hands publicly gloved for the foreseeable future. _After having been separated for so long the Triforce required time before it could grant any wish._ A lie, but with so few well studied in Triforce lore it was unlikely to be questioned, at least not with any degree of confidence.

She hated the way her false smiles and dishonest words made her feel. She hated feeling so _fake_. At least her internal misery served to distract her from the soul wrenching terror she felt whenever she thought about her reason for lying. Turning away from the nobleman her face betrayed a bit of honesty in the form of an ironic and bitter smile. Silver linings could indeed cut deep when they were razor thin.

Thankfully at the moment the dark clouds surrounding Hyrule remained metaphorical. After witnessing the sudden atmospheric transformation inside the Sacred Realm she had half expected a literal storm to have manifested outside the castle. For now the skies remained clear and the coming storm seemed contained to the Sacred Realm, but how long would it remain so? Would the Golden World revert to the Dark World of ages past, its evil once again seeping out into Hyrule?

Her task of keeping up appearances feeling accomplished, the Queen let her mind shift to the next task. Actually dealing with the threat, or at least discussing their options on how or even if it could be dealt with. Chances were they'd be stuck building their intelligence on the threat and wouldn't take action until later. In war patience was a virtue, because the already agonizing act of exhibiting patients was magnified by the steep odds and all that was at risk. It would call for more lies to at the very least postpone the panic that the truth would cause. She'd have to weather the guilt of being dishonest along with the black terror that came from knowing the truth, until the day came they could finally take action. Goddess pray it come soon.

Leaving the ballroom proper she started toward the congregation of off duty soldiers feasting near the room's far corner. She'd seen Link with them earlier and true to her assumption found him there now. The young Hero was surrounded by men most only a few years older than himself, those who'd become soldiers at far too young an age when Ganon's army had begun its terrible campaign. Back then laws were both bent and ignored when it had come to recruitment. All hands on deck indeed. That said, Link himself was little more than a child when he'd answered destiny's call. To the collection of young veterans Link was more than the Hero of Courage, he was their personal hero, role model, and to some even their peer. The way they responded with rapt attention, admiration, and congenial companionship to whatever trumped up tale he was spinning showed clearly their feelings toward the Legendary Hero.

But it was the ease with which Link held their audience that caused Zelda to role her eyes. Fear of public speaking indeed. How was this that much different than giving a prepared speech? Link thrived in the spotlight whatever he might himself say.

Catching a glimpse of Impa making small talk to an elderly officer she caught her confidant's eyes and gave a slight nod. Message received, Impa bid the officer farewell and left the ballroom to retrieve the Awoken Princess. Zelda frowned. Impa appeared a bit paler, a bit older and more tired, than she usually did. Forcing her worries to the side, after all they all had ample reason to be exhausted, Zelda approached the table where Link sat.

"And that," Link said to an appreciative roar of laughter, "is why you should never, _ever_ , grab a geru by the tail. Trust me my friends, and learn from my mistakes. This wisdom doesn't come cheaply."

As Link paused to finish the ale from his mug, one of the young soldiers spoke up. "A geru sure, but what if I want to grab the tail of a lizalfos?"

Link sat his mug down with exaggerated deliberance and met the soldier's mischievous grin with a glare of dry annoyance. "Same. Damn. Thing."

With the kindling set and the spark cast, the table erupted into a spirited and altogether belligerent debate. Zelda smiled to herself. Even if dark times were ahead as well as behind, at least right now her people could enjoy the present. She hated to break up the debate, but it was time to get back to work. For Link if not yet the others.

As she cleared her throat several young soldiers jumped to attention in shock, presenting hasty salutes to their newly crowned liege. "At ease," Zelda said, motioning for the soldiers to remain seated. "You'll have your whole careers to salute me. Today, your only concern should be celebration."

The men's expression reverted from concern to jubilation and frothing mugs were quickly raised in an appreciative toast in Zelda's name. "I am afraid I will need to borrow the Hero, though, I'll return him to you if I can. Link, if you will."

Most of the soldiers displayed their good natured disappointment, but a few such as the young man who'd goaded Link into sparking the debate appeared slightly concerned. "Anything to be worried about, Your Majesty?" the soldier asked.

"No," Zelda lied. "But as I'm sure you experienced in the war, a good portion of soldiering is boredom. As Link could no doubtfully tell you, heroing is much the same. Still, duty is duty."

"Nonsense." Link stood and returned his hat to his head with a flourish. "Nothing I ever do ends up being boring. I'm naturally gifted that way." Pausing briefly to point a finger at the young soldier who'd expressed concern Link said, "And don't think this conversation is over. Lizalfos are geru. Big, angry, same-damn-thing lizard men."

The men laughed and some shouted their differing opinion, but Link casually waved them off as he walked away from the raucous celebrators alongside Zelda. "Sleeping beauty awake yet?"

"I've sent Impa to fetch her. They'll meet us in the war room."

"Yeah? Go easy on her."

Zelda sighed. Truth be told she had probably acted harsher than she should have. It was unlikely that Zelda I had knowingly withheld anything she'd felt important. "I'm not planning on having her tortured, Link. We just need her to tell us all the details. Any small thing that she may not have thought pertinent could instead be the key to all this."

"I know. It's just that after seeing how badly scared she was up there, I realized something. She's not like us. She grew up in the honest to goddess golden age. She's a...well, she's a sheltered princess. Literally even."

"You're right," Zelda said. She'd never thought of it that way. Simply because the both of them had lived as the Princesses of Hyrule, they'd had remarkably different life experiences. Queen Zelda had known war and strife for most of her life, while Princess Zelda I had indeed lived during the golden age. The breaking of the Triforce and her getting cursed had been the events leading to the age of decline, but those were the Awoken Princess's most recent experiences and not her formative ones. "I'll try my best to keep that in mind, but sheltered childhood or not, she's in _our_ Hyrule now. She'll have to adapt and grow stronger if she wants to survive."

Link chuckled. "Yes Your Royal Grimness." Then he grew a bit more somber and added, "but you're not wrong. She'll be fine though. If nothing else she is a _Princess Zelda_ and I've heard it said you types have a pretty impressive track record for greatness."

"I hope so," Zelda said, "for both her sake and mine."

The two made the rest of their way through the lonely castle halls in silence. Entering the war room, the very place that the Queen had fragmented the Triforce of Wisdom when she had been little more than a child, they found the Awoken Princess sitting at the triangular conference table. Her posture was straight, and her features calm. She'd come prepared. The short rest probably having been beneficial.

Link walked over to an open side of the table, taking his seat and lounging a bit more than was appropriate for the gravitas of the setting, but at least he had the presents of mind not to put his feet up on the table. The Queen sat down on the table's remaining side and looked at the Princess. "Where's Impa?"

"She told me to meet everyone here. I'm sure she's on her way," Zelda I replied.

The Queen nodded. "Very well. Zelda, I need you to tell us everything. To be perfectly honest I don't have any idea what this is that we're dealing with. Every small detail could be important."

"I know. Honestly I do," she replied. "Everything I told you before is true. My father's dream, his worry that the Triforce was in danger, and the decision we made to hide the Triforce of Courage. The only thing I didn't mention was those words. We didn't know what they meant."

"In the center, darkness." The Queen said, "Those words?"

"Yes."

"What did you think they meant?" As the Queen asked Impa entered the room taking a seat next to her. What was she carrying? The old woman had brought a long thin package wrapped in drab cloth. Ignoring the curiosity for the moment the Queen returned to her questions. "Surly you must have had a guess?"

"We did." Zelda I said. "We thought 'the center' referred to central Hyrule. Back then we ruled from the Northern Palace, and there had been odd rumors circulating from the inner areas of the realm. Even before my father's dream we thought that there may have been a chance of _his_ return. We thought the 'darkness' was most likely the old enemy. Ganon."

Link let out a low whistle. "That actually does seem like a doozy of a thing not to bring up."

The Awoken Princess turned to him. "But we were wrong. We'd sent one of our most trusted people, a member of the Sheikah tribe named Impa to investigate the rumors. Even though I had fallen to my cursed slumber before she returned, I know, _no_ , we all know from history that Ganon did not make a return in those days. It wasn't until the recent years that Hyrule finally fell under his shadow again. We also truly believed that the Triforce would call upon you, the Hero, when it was once again safe to do so. The Triforce had called out to you, and so whatever 'In the center, darkness' meant I didn't believe it to be relevant any longer. Even had I told the two of you those exact words, would it have altered your decision on returning the Triforce to its natural state? I should have told you. I know this, but I honestly don't feel like anything we could have known would have predicted what happened in the Sacred Realm."

"No, I suppose it probably would not have impacted our decision," the Queen said, but it was what Zelda I had said earlier that stuck out in her mind. "You said one of your most trusted people was a Sheikah? Bearing the same name as my handmaid and most trusted adviser no less." She hadn't thought the Sheikah, the mythic shadow folk, to be much more than that, a myth. Hearing that they did indeed exist and operate within the realm of Hyrule was a revelation in itself, but one named Impa? The name was not a very common one. What did that mean? Coincidence? Fate or something else? "That is a detail that I would have expected brought up. If out of curiosity if no other reason."

"Yes," Zelda I said. "It was a subject I wanted to broach, but the Sheikah are very secretive. My Impa had only revealed her lineage to myself, my father, and my brother. We were sworn to keep her secret; I didn't feel it my place to raise questions concerning your handmaid. If she was Sheikah I felt that I could trust her, and if she had chosen to keep this secret I had no desire to be the one to reveal it."

"Impa?" the Queen asked. "Are you...what is that you brought with you?"

The old woman smiled gently and sat the long wrapped object onto the table. "In answer to your spoken question, this is a sword of Sheikah make. In answer to the one you wished to speak but did not, yes child. I am Sheikah. A fact that I did not withhold from you but simply forgot."

The Queen opened her mouth to speak, but it was Link that ended the brief moment of silence. "Forgot? How in the name of all things gold do you forget something like that?"

Queen Zelda awarded him a quick glare for his insensitivity, but her mind was wondering the same thing. How _did_ you forget something like that?

Impa laughed off the awkward tension. "Children, when you get to be my age you're allowed to say things like 'I've forgotten more than you've ever known.' In my case I'm starting to suspect that old cliché is true. As interesting a revelation as this is, and believe me nobody is more curious than myself, I think the more immediate item of import is what the Princess will tell you next."

Both Queen Zelda and Link swiveled their heads toward the Awoken Princess, who's eyes widened and blinked in surprise. "What? Oh. Oh! The book? Right?"

Impa nodded and motioned for her to continue. "It may be important. I'm not sure, but I think it's worth looking into," Zelda I said.

"What book? And why do you think it may be important?" Queen Zelda was well studied but did not recall ever learning of anything that came close to describing what they'd seen within the Sacred Realm.

"It's one of Hyrule's secret histories," Zelda I said. "Earlier I remembered it for the odd design on its cover. An upside down Triforce done in black." She removed the glove from her right hand and pointed to the centerpiece of her Triforce crest. "Not a singular upside down Triforce existing within 'the center'." She pointed her fist downward, inverting the crest. "But a full upside down Triforce crest."

The Queen frowned. That wasn't much to go on. Upside down Triforce iconography wasn't unheard of and was rarely actually sinister. In the mountain villages of the southwest similar depictions were still used. Though mostly these were done in bright colors. Reds, greens, or yellows, if they bothered adding color at all. "It may not even be connected. What is this book a record of? What secret history?"

"I had only begun my translation of it, so I know very little of what it tells." Zelda I answered. "From what I'd gathered so far is that it was a chronicle of the Hero Between Worlds."

"Who now?" Link asked before turning to face the Queen. "You never mentioned that one."

The Queen's brow furrowed thoughtfully. While Link had very little interest in studying Hyrule's history, he did manage to show a reasonable amount of curiosity when it came to the previous incarnations of the Legendary Hero. While there were a few legends that still existed in a form slightly greater than wispy myth, most did not have a specific title attached. The one's she were most familiar with were the Golden Hero who had retrieved the Triforce from Ganon and ushered in the golden age, and the Hero of Time, whom she had pointedly not told Link about, and who was often referred to by another title. She had not heard of any Hero Between Worlds. "I'm unfamiliar with that title," she admitted. "Do you mean the Golden Hero? 'Hero Between Worlds' may fit considering he passed between the world of light in which Hyrule exists and the Dark World that the Sacred Realm had then become."

Zelda I shook her head. "No, the Golden Hero preceded the Hero Between Worlds by several generations."

"During the golden age?" the Queen asked. "If there was a crisis of such a magnitude that the Legendary Hero had been reborn, why are there no records of it or any oral history?"

"The only record I know of is in the archives of the Royal Vault, and it was written in Sheikah. Until Impa decided to teach me their language, it had been a very long time since anyone could read it," Zelda I replied. "Whatever the crisis back then was, it went unnoticed by the average citizens. I believe few outside the royal family were even aware anything had been amiss. The Hero Between Worlds himself, though, was something of an artisan and craftsman. Some of his work is still preserved within the Vault."

"And the Royal Vault only opens in response to all three pieces of the Triforce." The Queen now understood why that particular Hero had been lost to time. "Without the Triforce of Courage the Vault's been inaccessible even to the royal family. We kept it such a tightly guarded secret that eventually we forgot ourselves."

"I guess we need to get into that vault then," Link said. "At least its a place to start. With that book's contents being unknown it could be exactly what we're looking for."

"Maybe," the Queen said, "but then again maybe not. Even still, it is our only lead. Getting into the Royal Vault at the very least is something now within our means to do, and its contents may be of some use to us even if this secret history turns out irrelevant. If we retrieve the Hero Between World's record, can you translate enough to make it useful?"

"Yes." The Awoken Princess sat straight with confidence as she spoke. "It may take me a while to do so, but I will be able to translate enough to make it worth the effort."

"Tomorrow then." The Queen decided. "Link make sure that your exploits tonight don't have any adverse effect on your morning health."

"Hey," Link said indignantly. "Since when do I have that kind of reputation? I know my limit."

"As do most of my citizens," the Queen retorted, "but considering tonight's celebration I'd bet half my kingdom that the other half ignores their 'limit' and is hungover tomorrow. Just don't be in that half."

Exasperated, Link opened his mouth to further his argument, but was interrupted by a deep rumbling. The triangular conference table had begun sinking into floor. The Queen, the Hero, and the Awoken Princess all scrambled from their seats and backed away from the sudden spectacle. As the table pressed flush against the war room floor a triangular section in its center began folding downward, revealing a hidden set of stairs leading down from what now resembled the crest of the Triforce.

"We go tonight."

Turning around, Queen Zelda saw that Impa had left the table when she hadn't been paying attention and had manipulated some hidden mechanism behind a suit of decorative armor. "Impa? If time is so short that we can't afford a night's rest I fear that we're already doomed. The secret history we're after won't be quick to reveal anything useful, if it does at all." Then taking a more gentle tone she continued. "Besides, you don't look well Impa. You've been pale for the last several hours and coughing more frequently. I'm worried for your health."

Smiling, the elderly handmaid walked over to where the wrapped Sheikah sword now lay beside the staircase, retrieving it and then passing it to Link to carry. "Dear child, I am not well, and I fear that a simple night's rest will do little to cure what ails me. Time won't be undone by additional time. If we wait until the morning it may be too late."

Zelda felt a sickening knot of dread deep in her stomach as she looked down at the woman who had done so much to raise her, love her, and had always been there when needed most. "Don't talk like that, Impa. Please, it scares me."

"My dear sweet child," Impa said, smiling through an exhausted and pained expression. "Old age is never fun, but it needn't be scary. Now please, we must leave at once, on this I am adamant."

After a long silent moment, Zelda steeled her resolve and nodded. Taking Impa by the hand to support her, she began down the stairs. "Very well, Impa. We go now."

The others followed behind her, neither speaking. Impa's hand was cold and damp with sweat. The old woman coughed again. Sharper. Harsher than before. The knot in Zelda's stomach grew as they descended into darkness.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

Quick little thing. 'Zelda I' is pronounced 'Zelda the First', but in all canonical sources the correct spelling is the use of the roman numeral 'I'. Still, I'm worried it might be confusing or cause the reader to stumble unnecessarily if they accidentally read it as the pronoun I. I'd like some feedback, either in the reviews or as a PM. It would be all too easy to change 'I' to 'the First' if that's what the consensus is.

 ** _Mythology Notes: Lizard Men and Heroes_**

In the NES titles there was an enemy named the 'geru' which were anthropomorphic reptiles much like the enemy 'lizalfos' in later titles. I'm not sure if it was a retcon in the naming scheme or if they are indeed separate ideas, so I thought it would be fun to have that as a point of debate among the soldiers. As it seems like something hardcore Zelda fans may argue about (though I've never witnessed that particular argument, it does seem like a possible one).

The 'Hero Between Worlds' is of course the Link from the recent 3DS title _A Link Between Worlds_. I believe that game takes place about six generations after _A Link to the Past_ (who's Link I'm referring to as the 'Golden Hero'), anyway, the plot thickens.

Happy reading.


	6. Chapter VI: The Ocarina's Song

**The Triforce of Ruin**

 **Chapter VI: The Ocarina's Song**

Queen Zelda was still holding Impa by the hand when they reached the end of the hidden passage. The stairs in the war room had dropped down into a tunnel deep beneath the castle. They'd followed that tunnel for a few miles, their only guiding light the softly glowing runes along the floor, until it began sloping upward back toward the surface. Stepping onto a pressure plate immediately in front of the exit caused a small stone door to open outward, revealing Hyrule's starry night sky.

Once outside the Queen surveyed their surroundings. The passage's door had been crafted onto the stony face of a small hillside, hidden by a small grove of trees. To the southeast Castle City glowed in the darkness, the skies above it flashing periodically as fireworks exploded over the castle. The Royal Vault was built within the largest of the rocky hills north from where they now stood. It would be a short walk, but Impa's condition had only grown worse, and Zelda feared that any more physical exertion could prove to be too much. Impa squeezed her hand, appearing to sense the Queen's thoughts. "I'll be fine. These old bones can make it a little further before giving out, but let's not tarry."

The company moved through the night, leaving the city's glow further behind them. Any roads leading to the Vault had long since been swallowed by nature, but the ground was mostly level making their travel relatively easy. Before long they came upon the Vault's entrance. No gate nor visible openings could be seen, but the stone wall was marked clearly with a gigantic portrayal of Hyrule's Royal Crest: The Crest of the Triforce set within a magnificent bird. The carving though ancient had not suffered the natural process of erosion as it still appeared freshly carved. Its angles still sharp and stone smooth.

Impa leaned against the Queen recovering her breath. "So the Royal Vault's inside there?" Link asked. "How do we get in?"

"I don't know," the Queen answered before turning toward the Awoken Princess. "Zelda?"

Zelda I walked toward the stone. "The Vault recognizes the Triforce's signature. To anyone outside of our company this is a solid impenetrable barrier, but to us there is no barrier at all." Then she took another step forward and vanished into the solid rock.

"Well that's interesting," Link approached the wall himself. "Here goes nothing."

As Link too vanished through the wall Zelda looked down at Impa. "Do you need to rest further?"

Impa coughed but shook her head. "No, I'll be fine."

With the old woman still leaning on her for support the Queen walked the both of them through the stone and like the others passed into the Vault. The entrance chamber was unexpectedly bright, being lit by numerous orbs, some on pedestals, others hanging from the high ceiling, all luminescent with ancient magic. There light was cold but steady and the Queen squinted against it as her eyes adjusted from the night's dark. "Do you know where the book is located?" she asked the Princess.

Zelda I nodded. "I've only been inside of here a few times. Whenever my father traveled this far south in order to stay here at the old capital, but the layout is pretty simple. The archives are down the corridor to the left, and the book should still be among the small collection I'd gathered to study."

"Any traps?" Link asked. "What kind of security can we expect?"

"No traps. The only security is the requirement of being connected to the Triforce. We're actually carrying the Triforce within ourselves, but the Royal Vault would grant entrance to any who'd physically touched it and had made a wish. Or anyone in their presence," Zelda I explained, "but we should all still be careful. This place houses all kinds of magical relics. Some very dangerous."

"No touching," Link said, "got it."

"The book can wait a little longer." Impa let go of the Queen and walked forward under her own power.

"Impa, that book is what we've come for." Zelda moved alongside her handmaid ready to help her if she were to stumble. "We should get it and then let you rest awhile before heading back."

"Please humor this old woman a little while longer." Impa smiled at the Queen's concern. "I believe the armory is up ahead. It's on the way, so we should stop there first."

"How do you know your way around the Vault?" Zelda I asked. "There's never been any record of its layout as far as I know."

Impa managed to keep a spark of her mischievous twinkle in her eyes, though she remained pale and unsteady. "Sheikah are very secretive, and I have plenty of secrets. Though I'm only now starting to remember most of them. Right now I'm still unsure of how I know what I do, or how much I know at all. I guess I'm operating on instinct and feeling at the moment." She set off down the corridor that lay straight ahead. The others exchanged looks but followed.

Midway down the corridor Impa paused to cough, each one fueling the Queen's worry, but then the old woman gathered her strength, steadied herself, and pushed open a large set of double doors on the left hand side of the hall, entering the Royal Vault's armory. Queen Zelda audibly gasped as she entered behind her. Link whistled softly. Neither of them had not seen anything like it before. Rows upon rows of weapon racks stretched as far as they could see. Each one completely full. Swords, spears, axes, numbered in the tens of thousands before them. More racks covered the walls bearing even more arms. "I could re-arm every man in my army twice over with all this," the Queen said in awe. "If only we'd had access to this armory during the war."

"There have been many times in the past when weapons such as these were needed," Zelda I said, "but during the golden age we were at peace. Most of our weapons remained untouched in armories such as this one."

"I fear these weapons will not remain untouched for much longer." Impa started walking again heading to the far end of the armory. "I also fear that even this impressive cache may not be enough to fully arm us for what lies ahead."

"If I can at all avoid war I will," the Queen said as she followed. "Besides, the threat within the Sacred Realm isn't a problem that can be solved with an army."

"True," Impa replied without stopping, "but it will bring chaos, and chaos breeds war. You said it yourself, Your Majesty, a storm is coming for Hyrule. Goddesses prepare us."

"All suitably dire thoughts," Link observed. "Reasonable, but dire. I will admit that I am currently in the market for a new sword. We seem to have come to the right place."

"Ah, but for a discerning Hero such as yourself, I believe you'd be more comfortable with something from the private collection." Impa said.

"You're talking about the Hero Between Worlds' sword aren't you?" Zelda I asked.

"You actually have his sword in here?" Link turned to the Princess. "The one he used?"

"Made actually," Zelda I said. "Remember when I said he was a craftsman? The Hero Between Worlds was a sword smith by trade."

Impa reached the far side of the armory and went through a low archway into a small room kept apart from the armory proper. Inside were several glass cases displaying swords of clearly distinguished quality. To the Queen's eyes, however; the small room was more of an art gallery than an extension of the armory. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling in oil paintings. There was no apparent theme to the art. Some were landscapes, some personal portraits, others were like fragments of life frozen in time. A young woman in a pink dress feeding a flock of cuccos. A child chasing a butterfly with a net. An old man with a bald head and a bushy white beard passing a sack of rupees to a local merchant.

The grandest of them all was the one covering the entirety of the back wall. Painted with such skill that it looked almost a mere window to the world within. It showed a meadow deep inside the woods, dimmed in shadow save for a single shaft of sunlight streaming down upon a sword embedded atop a marble shrine. The Sword of Evil's Bane. The Master Sword.

In front of the grand painting sat a block of white stone. A sword sheathed within, nearly identical to the image in the painting. For a moment the Queen's breath caught in her throat as she thought it was the Master Sword itself, enshrined inexplicably in front of its own likeness. Then she noticed that the sword in the stone was slightly different than the one in the painting. It had the same stylized hilt, made to resemble the wings of a bird, and the blade was also thinner until flaring out to its full width once it had passed the winged hilt, but the coloring was different. Its hilt was a dark forest green rather than the deep blue of the Master Sword's, and at the point where the blade flared outward it was unmarked rather than bearing the Crest of the Triforce.

"It's said that the Hero Between Worlds took it as a personal challenge to forge a sword as great as the Master Sword which he briefly wielded." Princess Zelda I pointed at the enshrined sword. "This is one of two that came closest to that goal, but even they fell short, masterpieces though they were."

"One of two?" Link asked.

The Princess looked at the Hero. "It's said that he carried the other as his personal weapon. Unfortunately, it was lost to the ages and had never been recovered. At least not in _my time_."

"Yeah, I think you might be right," Link said to her implication. "The shattered remains of that lost sword are probably sitting on the shelf in my room right now. Think this Hero Between Worlds would mind if I borrowed another of his toys? I kinda broke the last one so I'm not sure."

"I'm sure he'd be honored." Zelda I said.

Link walked up to the stone slab and gripped the sword's pommel. His mouth opened, and the Queen briefly wondered what sacrilegious quip would come out, but then she watched his eyes turn toward the painting of the Master Sword. He closed his mouth and stared for a moment. Then he pulled the sword out from the stone. Turning around and walking back Link said, "He wasn't just a sword smith was he? The Hero Between Worlds didn't just forge the swords in this room. He's the artist who painted all these."

"It's believed so," Zelda I replied.

"I can tell." Link waved his hand around the room. "The same hands made everything in here. The paintings and the swords alike." He paused and stared at one of the ornate swords inside a nearby glass case. "Except that one. Somebody messed up putting that in here. It's not one of his."

The Queen snorted. "There is no way you could know that."

Link just shrugged, but Zelda I walked over to the glass case. "No, he's right. At least about it not being forged by the Hero Between Worlds. It's not here by mistake though. This is actually a magical sword he studied for some time. Nobody's sure where he found it or what kind of power it has, but he left some notes behind on it. It's actually an interesting study."

"Yeah, I bet those notes were cryptic as hell and no good to anybody." Link said with a smirk.

Zelda I frowned down at the sword. "Actually, yes. You're right again. The most famous one is inscribed here on the case. _Its true power will be revealed only when one knows its name_. Like you said, cryptic."

"Let me guess, he never bothered to write down the name?"

"No. No, he did not."

Impa walked over to the two of them and opened the glass case. "Of all the swords in this room. This is the reason I brought you here." She turned to the Queen. "This sword should be wielded by you, Your Majesty." Lifting the blade from its case she brought it over to Zelda.

Zelda looked at the sword. It was undeniably a fine weapon. Its ornate golden hilt looked a little like the talons of a bird of prey to her, slightly more aggressive than the winglike style of the Master Sword or its replicas. The rounded end of its pommel held a polished jewel that shifted colors as she looked at it. "I don't know, Impa. It looks a little heavier than I'd prefer. My current sword was balanced specifically to my strengths, and without knowing this sword's name whatever hidden power it may have would be beyond my use."

"Only its true power," Impa said with a mysterious glint in her eyes. "Humor me and take it. You may be surprised."

Zelda inwardly sighed but accepted the sword. Then she frowned in surprise. As soon as her hand wrapped around its pommel the sword changed. The blade grew thinner and its weight decreased, until the sword in her hand felt nearly identical to the one on her hip. "Interesting," she whispered. "I think this sword just adapted itself to my preferences." She looked up at Link. "I want to try something. Take this sword and tell me what you think."

Handing the Sheikah sword he still carried in his right hand to the Awoken Princess, Link took the golden one from the Queen. Holding both the mystery sword and the Hero Beyond Worlds' sword out in front of himself Link checked their weight and balance. "Well, I'll be," he said tossing the two into the air and catching them in the opposite hands. Juggling the two swords back and forth, he took a few test swings with each using his strong left hand. "You're right, Zelda. This one grew once you gave it me. Not only in size and weight. Its balance subtly changed too. It might actually be better balanced than the Hero's sword."

Taking the golden sword back from Link, Zelda turned to Impa. "I don't suppose this sword's name is one of your forgotten memories that's coming back?"

Impa chuckled but shook her head. "Alas it is not. But listen to me, dear child. Keep this sword with you at all times. When you need its power most you will have it. I know this, though I can't say how." The old woman smiled, suddenly relaxing. "Yes, I feel better now knowing you have it. I think I can rest easy now."

"You do need rest, Impa," the Queen said her voice strained with worry.

"Not yet, no, not yet," Impa said. "Almost though. One more task. Yes, one more."

"The book?" Link asked sliding his new sword through his belt, wearing it naked at his side and taking the Sheikah sword back from Zelda I.

"No, not the book. That can wait." Impa left through the archway back into the armory. "The song. I have to play the song."

Queen Zelda removed her sword from its sheath and replaced it with the mysterious new sword, sitting her old one in the empty glass case for the time being. "Impa? What song?"

"Soon child," Impa said without slowing. "You'll know soon."

Leaving the armory Impa turned left and continued down the initial corridor, by now limping and supported at each side by the Princess and the Queen. "Impa, please," the Queen pleaded softly.

The handmaid shook her head and pressed onward. "Only a little further, child. I must do this."

The three woman made the rest of their march in resolute silence. Link following behind. At the corridor's end was a single door. Zelda I read the inscription on it and frowned. "Are you sure this is the place, Impa? Do you know what this shrine is? Who's it is?"

Wheezing, the old woman regained what breath she could before speaking. "Yes, child. It will be in here. Almost done. I must...I must."

Pushing the door open, Queen Zelda helped Impa into the lonely room beyond, and the others followed. Unlike the other rooms in the Vault which were kept alight by the glowing orbs, this room was lit only by the flickering fire light of two small braziers near the back. Low stone shelves wrapped around the walls, holding an odd assortment of items. So ancient that many were already beyond recognition. Zelda saw a wooden slingshot that had nearly crumbled to dust, a couple of broken glass bottles, an old shield bearing Hyrule's royal crest, and what may have once been a smaller wooden shield that was now swallowed by rot. On the back shelf lay the remains of a green tunic, long conical hat, and old leather boots. The garb of the Legendary Hero, now rendered nearly unrecognizable by time. In the room's center stood a waist high stone pedestal. It was empty.

The item that should have sat on the pedestal was instead gripped in the hands of a skeleton that lay slumped before it. A small roughly potato shaped object made of blue stone. "Impa," Queen Zelda spoke so softly that her voice barely carried even in the absolute silence. "Why did you bring us here?"

Gathering her strength, Impa freed herself from the young womens' support and walked to the central pedestal bracing herself against it. "Because this is where I need to be, and I think Link should finally hear this tale, though I know you do not share this opinion with me."

"And what tale would that be?" Link asked as he surveyed the room.

Queen Zelda answered in a quiet voice. "The tale of the Hero of Time."

Link frowned at her. "Hero of Time? That's a mighty impressive title even for a Legendary Hero. Why _didn't_ you tell me about this one?"

"Link, do you remember how Ganon came to occupy the Sacred Realm with the Triforce?" she asked.

"Sure," Link said. "You called it the Imprisoning War. Said the Seven Sages sealed him inside along with the Triforce. Desperate last ditch effort and all that."

"The Hero of Time was the Hero of that era. The Hero who first faced Ganon." Zelda continued.

"Okay. So why keep that hidden? It's not really surprising that there'd be a Hero around during a crisis that large."

"Link, there was a reason the Seven Sages had to make that 'desperate last ditch effort.'" Zelda looked him in the eyes as she spoke. "The Hero of Time is known by another title: the Fallen Hero. He fought Ganon and lost. His failure almost doomed the world and left the Sages no other choice but to pollute the Sacred Realm with Ganon's evil. The Fallen Hero is forever a reminder that evil _can_ conquer good and that sometimes the light of hope is proven false."

"Oh." Link said. "Oh."

"You were always at your best when filled with confidence." Zelda said still holding his gaze. "Believing oneself invincible is usually _not_ a good thing, but in your case the things you had to do were often so dangerous and crazy that I thought you might actually _need_ to feel invincible just to make the attempt."

Link stood silent for a moment. Then shrugged and gave a dismissive wave. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I did crazy things long before finding out I was destined to be the Legendary Hero, but I think I can see where you're coming from."

"I'm sorry, Link. I shouldn't have tried to hide it. It was foolish of me."

"Honestly not a big deal," Link said with that infuriating grin he sometimes wore. "Seriously. You're forgiven and everything."

Nodding in relief the Queen turned back to Impa who was still braced against the stone pedestal. "Okay Impa, point made, though you needn't have done so in such dramatic fashion. Can we please get you somewhere you can rest a little."

The old woman smiled up at the Queen sadly. "I'm sorry child, but now we must stop pretending."

Zelda felt her eyes burn. "No." She shook her head. "Impa. No."

"My time has come, dear child. I am so very old. I am dying; there is nothing that can change it."

"No." Zelda said again suddenly angry. "Impa, you can't just know that you're going to die. It doesn't work that way. You're tired and unwell, but that doesn't mean you have to die right here and right now."

"Child," Impa said sadly. "Now is not the time to be stubborn. I am older than even I had realized. I am dying. I can feel it for a certainty, but this at least grants me a luxury not all are afforded. I'm allowed the bittersweet gift of saying farewell to those I love most."

The Queen wanted to scream at her. To rage and argue that she was being a fool. Instead she stumbled forward and flung her arms around the old woman, no longer able to see through the hot tears that now poured unceremoniously down her face.

Impa returned the hug with all the strength she could muster and then gently pushed the Queen away. "Now child, I have very little time left in this world. And a fair bit left that I need to say."

The Queen nodded silently not trusting her voice. Impa smiled and held her hands in her own. "You must stand firm, Your Majesty. You may hate running a war from the safety of your castle walls while others fight and die in your name, but if you are patient and resolute your enemy will come to you. The castle must stand. No matter the risk or the advise later counseled you must not surrender the gateway to the Sacred Realm in retreat, but when the time is right and after the enemy reveals himself to you. You must take the war to them. You must lead the battle. Do you understand?"

She nodded again, this time managing to speak. "Yes. I understand, Impa."

"Good. Good." Still holding the Queen's hands in one of her own, Impa reached out and took the hands of Zelda I with her other. "You, my Princess, are more brave and more capable than you believe. Your mind will be invaluable in the coming days, but you must be able to protect yourself. Learn to fight, and learn how to 'swim'."

"I will. I promise," the Awoken Princess said through tears of her own.

"And Link?" Impa called out to the young man. "I believe you've already figured out what you'll need to do?"

Link grinned ear to ear, as though his ridiculous smile could somehow keep the glinting moisture in his own eyes from escaping. Patting the naked sword at his side he said, "This sword isn't half bad, but I'm gonna be needing the real thing, so I'll have to just go find myself the Master Sword."

"Yes. A fine place to start," Impa said, twinkle in her eye. "After that?"

Link's grin never faded, but the tears fell nonetheless. "Hero things most likely."

Impa's lips parted in a grin of her own and she nodded in satisfaction. "Now I'm afraid it's finally goodbye." She looked into the Queen's tear stricken eyes. "Throughout the horrors of your childhood, you were braver and more resourceful than I can possibly imagine. It has been my deepest and most sincere honor to have been a part of your life." She turned to the Awoken Princess. "A sweeter, kinder girl I have never known, but you are more than that. You are intelligent and wise, and you are both strong and brave despite what you may think. I'm glad that at the end I finally was able to see you again."

Zelda I blinked in confusion. "You can't mean...are you really? How?"

"Yes, I am the same Impa who served you as a child, who watched you grow into the wonderful young woman that stands before me now. I am very, very old, but I did not simply live until the day you were able to wake from that terrible curse. The route I took to get here was not so straight forward as that."

The three young people stared in wordless astonishment and sorrow. Impa nodded to herself. "Yes, now it is finally time." Bending over she reached down and took the blue object from the skeletal hands that held it. "Would you be kind enough to allow this old woman a bit of space with which to perform her swansong?"

The two young women stepped back a few paces as Impa raised the ocarina to her lips. "You both remember don't you? The song that I taught you as children?"

The Awoken Princess nodded, and the Queen whispered, "The lullaby?"

"Yes," Impa said. "The royal lullaby. The song of Zelda." Then she began playing.

The first three notes rang out clear and sweet, and Queen Zelda couldn't choke back a ragged sob. The song continued a few bars further, Impa's knobby fingers working slowly over the ocarina's holes. She paused. Took a long, deep, rattling breath, and the song grew stronger. Each note ringing silver against the silence, enveloping the sorrow in hallowed eternity.

Impa continued to play the ocarina, and then a new song came, from deep within the mists of time.

* * *

Impa finished the song and looked up. She now stood by herself in the Hero of Time's lonely shrine. She had heard the other song, even as she'd focused on her own, and knew that when both songs had ended she'd be alone. Sitting she leaned against the stone pedestal. She was bone weary and glad for the chance to finally rest. Taking a last shallow breath she whispered to the empty air. "Goodbye, my Princesses. Goodbye, my dear sweet Zeldas."

Fingers still wrapped firmly around the Ocarina of Time, Impa closed her eyes; smiled, and died.


End file.
